For decades the Cuban revolutionary was renowned for two trademark symbols: his beard and his cigars. But on Christmas Eve, 1985, he quit the habit for health-related reasons in an effort to encourage others to do so as well.

Cuban cigars have long been banned in the United States. But according to legend, Kennedy ordered and received 1500 cubans the day before he signed the landmark 1962 embargo against the Communist-leaning nation.

And he's not the only famous aficionado of the fermented rolled tobacco. Winston Churchill reportedly dunked his in brandy and port wine, while Ulysses Grant reportedly smoked up to 12 a day. Sigmund Freud, fiend that he was, smoked up to twenty a day and continued unabated until his death from oral cancer.

As for Castro, he stepped down as el Presidente in 2008, giving way to his brother Raul. After largely avoiding the spotlight, he emerged last August to give a speech to the National Assembly and urge the United States to refrain from going to war against Iran and North Korea.